Mass UFO sightings had alien watchers’ antennae twitching.

Several people reported seeing orange orbs moving silently over Ware and Stanstead Abbotts at the weekend.

Chris Hollis, news DJ for Hertbeat FM, said: “We have had loads of calls from people who have spotted the UFOs. I saw them too and thought that the aliens were about to land. Maybe the Mercury can find out what these lights were.”

Several people reported the lights on community website Ware Online.

Former Chauncy School governor Pat Horridge said: “They came up from the horizon and slowly climbed in height. The light output was orange and seemed to twinkle like fire, but was consistent throughout the time visible.

“There didn’t seem to be any sort of order to them, just a large cluster that drifted apart – very weird.”

A likely explanation is that the glowing orange lights were nothing more than paper lanterns – the latest craze for summer parties and barbecues.

Powered by tea lights, they work like small hot-air balloons. Originally used in China as a way of sending messages to the heavens, the idea has caught on here.

‘Wishes in the Sky’ are little hot-air balloons made of orange paper to give the gentle orange glow as they float.